Welcome to the 26th edition of the World Lacrosse Championships, held in the Principality of Qasden! Over the course of the next 2-3 weeks, 28 teams from across the grand multiverse will duke it out in head-to-head matchups until only 1 remains. With Abanhfleft taking the cake in Corcra and Tir Trodaithe, will they be able to go back-to-back? Or, will a tough newbie defy all odds and win the trophy on their first go? Only 1 way to find out, so sit tight for an action-packed, finger-wagging, tear-inducing, party-commencing introduction of lacrosse in the new year!

Schedule (Presumed)1/14/17- IC Thread Open1/16/17- Group Draw on Esper & Discord1/20/17- MD1: 1v4 2v31/21/17- MD2: 3v4 1v21/22/17- MD3: 3v1 4v21/23/17- Bye1/24/17- MD4: 4v1 3v21/25/17- MD5: 4v3 2v11/26/17- MD6: 1v3 2v41/27/17- Bye1/28/17- Round of Sixteen1/29/17- Bye1/30/17- Quarterfinals1/31/17- Bye2/1/17- Semi-Finals2/2/17- Bye2/3/17- Final and 3PPONotice- This event is only open to those who have signed up (see the names above) and moderators doing their jobs. If you are not signed up, and you are not a mod, please reserve yourself from posting in this thread. Thank you!

Nations, start RPing NOW!

Last edited by Qasden on Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:12 pm, edited 9 times in total.

The Principality of Qasden is a sport-loving metropolis located in the southwestern portion of Atlantian Oceania. Under the authorities of Prince Franz-Pierre and PM Rees Häther, who govern from the capital, Turkish Van City (better known as T.V. City), the 'pality maintains relatively well relations with fellow regional nations. The economy is mostly entertainment and tourism-driven, while information and hospitality come close behind.

Citizens of Qasden enjoy frolicking amongst the streets of cities such as T.V. City, Port Harston, Taxson, Qad City, and so on. When it comes to sports, however, things start to get real. Nearly every Qasdonian plays or enthusiastically watches some form of sport, with athletic programs such as Association Football, Basketball, and Tennis leading the nation in popularity. The 'pality is home to many wonderful venues, such as the Royal T.V. Stadium, an all-around mecca for Qad sports, located in the heart of T.V. City. Citizens enjoy these friendly competitions in an almost eternal spring-like weather, with glorious rainy days and gloomy sunny days making up the usual forecasts. Certain places in Qasden, like the mountainous southwestern cities of Fyre and Destiny, experience more of an early spring and autumn pattern, with snow falling at least once every other month. Trains and planes are the best ways to travel between each of the venues, and stray cats on public vehicles are heavily common (so be aware of that, people with cat allergies).

The hope diamond of Qad athletics, the Royal T.V. Stadium serves as the home to several National Team squads across a large variety of sports. Located just a few blocks from the Prince's Residence and Capitol Buildings, the arena also generates revenue through tourism and hospitality. Dining establishments can be found all over the venue, ranging from your local greasy spoon to the high-end buffets brought by Feasties' Multiversal Cuisine. The field, the largest of any kind in Qasden, will hold the arena needed for the games as well as 6,250 additional seats for fans wanting to be close to the action.

Capacity: 70,000 | Hosts: Group B; 2 R16 Matches; 1 QF; 3PPO In tribute to the city's fishing industry, the newly constructed Fisherman's Field in Port Harston will soon serve The Port FC, along with other major teams in the area. The "successor" of the Prince's Arena by the water,

Last edited by Qasden on Wed Jan 18, 2017 8:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Nephara has many small leagues for many small sports. Lacrosse is one of them. The hastily-assembled Hawks, thrown together to fill the gap in the Championships, will consider the tournament a success if they manage a win against anyone.

The Nepharim are semi-professionals, all domestically based in the small eight-team national league. Lacking technique, they will play to their strengths and simply opt to beat the shit out of their opposition. Somehow they managed to qualify for a second edition.

Experience - This is Cosumar's 19th WLC. Debuted in WLC VIII and have since built a reputation as one of the premier lacrosse nations in multiverse, due to our strong domestic league (the CLL) and seven total WLC medals. Cosumar won back-to-back WLC titles in the 20th and 21st editions but crashed out early in WLC 22. They bounced back to claim a silver medal in WLC 23 and then a bronze in WLC 24. This time, they'll be looking to bounce back again after going out to eventual champs Abanhfleft in the Quarterfinals. Cosumar has also hosted the tournament in the past. Lacrosse was an obscure sport in Cosumar 30+ years ago, but has since risen rapidly to become the fourth spectator sport here behind only basketball and association and gridiron football.

Cosumar's uniform feautres an aesthetic design provided by Barrengaka Kits of Astograth and makes heavy use of the national colors of Blue and Silver. The goalie's kit feautres the colors of the Royal Family of Cosumar - Green and Gold. A silhouette of the iconic Cosumarite Azure Dragon takes the center of the uniform, reminding spectators of the natural beauty and magnificence of Cosumar while also striking fear into the hearts of the opposing team.

OOC Permissions

Essentially, I'll allow anything short of killing off my players or extreme godmodding. RPing is all about having fun, so use your imagination and RP however you like when playing Cosumar. However, I do ask that you telegram prior to seriously injuring my players.

Last edited by Cosumar on Sun Jan 15, 2017 1:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Southern Lacrosse Federation (SLF) understands that this is a field lacrosse competition but we only practice box lacrosse in our nation, so we will send a team of box lacrosse players who will try to adapt to field lacrosse. The Southern Democratic States Lacrosse team is used with a 30 sec. shot clock kinda like basketball, so we usually won't keep the ball for more than 30 seconds before shooting it. Our players won't cover as many field as other field lacrosse teams. Our dmen always stays in the defensive zone and our attackers stays in the attacking zone (or stays just outside to not create an offside if offsides exists). Our midfielders usually stay in the midfield area and rarely go in the attacking or defensive zone. Our strategy isn't well adapted for field lacrosse. Also, because our box lacrosse domestic league, the Southern Lacrosse League (SLL), is under reconstruction, players are teamless for now.

For the first team in Phillippanoan history, their national lacrosse team qualified for the World Championships after a surprise expansion of the event to add 4 more teams. The national team, nicknamed the Striped Wolves (after their blue and yellow striped jerseys), first played an international match in 1981 and have since participated in several minor regional tournaments at a low-level. In the last few years, under the direction of Johan Greyssen, their results have been much improved and they were promoted to the highest tier of the regional league (somewhat surprising for a sport that barely makes the top ten most popular sports in Phillippanoa). This of course led to a national upsurge in popularity, as it had been sometime since Phillippanoa had such success internationally (their national rugby, hockey and football tournaments were big things, but rarely left the country).

But now they had made it to the Worlds. Regardless of what happened, the athletes that participated in the Championship would be celebrities upon their return.

Although assembled from the top Lacrosse Teams in Huri de Wintre, the Electric Eels will need to play at their best to beat teams such as West Phoenicia. Led by manager of Electric Eel Valley LC Benn Kiria and former Sfai United lacrosse player Cy East, the team are looking forward to the games, although are understandably nervous.

Lacrosse is one of the more popular sports in Sontarion. Many hockey players will get involved in lacrosse during the summer. Pro Lacrosse in Sontarion is played indoors, in some of the many hockey stadiums across the country. For the first time in this countries history, Sontarion is testing its lacrosse skills against the rest of the world. The Sontarion National team is composed mainly of players from the Sontarion Professional Lacrosse League, however there are a couple amateur players who made the cut.

Sylvester Miller has won the Edwards trophy for best goalie in the Sontarion Lacrosse League a total of 5 times, including last season. He is a very experienced goalie who is very good at reading the play and being in the right position. Arthur is a backup goalie in the Sontari Ice Hockey League. His fast reflexes and good hand eye co-ordination have given him success in lacrosse. Although he would probably be a starter in lacrosse, he has been passionate about hockey since he has been young and does not want to give up his dream of being a starting goalie in the SIHL.

Sontarion’s defense is a force to be reckoned with. Sidney Thorn and Branden Rhodes are a defensive pair on the powerhouse Beluga Bay Thunder. They are very good at working together on the field to cover off an attack and start plays from the defensive zone. The Sontaronian defense is very big, tough, and hard hitting. They are not afraid to play physical.

The most notable player in the Midfield is Ford “The Magician” Lewis. At 41 years old, Lewis is one of the oldest players in the game, but is still regarded as one of the best playmakers in the league. The SPLL plays indoors, on fields the dimension of a hockey rink, and as such, do not have midfielders. With the exception of Lewis and Hall Stanley, who are forwards, Sontarion’s “Midfield” consists of more mobile defensive players. As such, each midfield line is expected to play in two stages – the two defensive players will play a very aggressive, physical game, and try to wear down on the offense in the zone. The forward on each line acts as a pivot – they will be responsible for getting the ball up to the forwards.

Sontarion’s starting forward line consists of two of the top scorers in the SPLL. Gerard Henderson and Clem Beaumont are both fast, explosive players. Henderson scores many of his goals with his hard shot, where Beaumont is better known for making unexpected plays that end up in the back of the net. Chad Kinsley had the most assists in the SPLL last season. He is a very big forward who can hold on to the ball and make the right play with it.

* = 1st line(a) = Amateur player(C) = Captain(A) = Alternate Captain

Sontarion head coach Leo Mathewson is excited to compete internationally for the first time. “It’s going to be interesting,” says Mathewson, “Only a handful of these guys have experience playing on the bigger field with more players. Most of the team played indoors, where it’s more about making plays and being physical than it is about speed. I think it’ll be a challenge, but we’ve been doing some practice on the bigger field and it’s been going well. We play a very physical game, and we’ve gotta stick with that. We can wear the other guys down, then get it up to our forwards. In the end, we gotta make the other guys play to our style, and not get sucked into theirs.”

State of lisanderian lacrosseDue to the modest size of the country and the crisis that undermined professional sport in the penultimate decade, Lisander does not have many professional ties. Lacrosse is a relatively common sport among college students, however, leaving college, there is no interest in professionalizing it. There are even local tournaments, Sunday leagues that use the fields of small clubs or public parks to play matches. But the players are doctors, IT engineers, teachers, soldiers ... Anyway ... Ordinary people.

Sport against sexismThe Lisander society is fully-integrated. Women are completely equal to men, with the same rights and same duties. However, the physical differences between male and female bodies ended up separating sports teams into gender. It is common and particularly accepted by society, by safety and health reasons. After all a fair competition is what is expected of any sporting event, and have a strong 198cm volleyball player attacking against a 156cm thin female libero is not fair.

Until 8, children play together. After this age, teams are split into male and female. Lacrosse, being a sport that is not usually taught from childhood, like Rugby, Hockey or Football, did not make this division, and men and women play together. The lacrosse community sees sexism in the separation of athletes by gender, and for this reason, it refused to join the National Sports Confederation. In this way, it is not able to receive any sponsorship and aid from the entity. The Lisander Lacrosse Union (in portuguese, ULL) modified its logo, adding a blue and a pink band in the image, to show its support to unisex sport cause.

The TeamLisander Lacrosse Team is formed by University players and Sunday League players who attended the 2016 LAXWeekend, an event where university and amateur teams played and meet with other teams.

Will be presented in first game. Is believed to have two versions, male and female.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following...You're free to post results and scorers and the general ambient of the game. But take in consideration lacrosse is a mixed-gender amateur sport in Lisander. Try not to be so harsh with the players. Some are university students, others are taking a break from their jobs, most are girls and women. Injure one of my players only if you're injuring someone from your roster in the same play, and TG me before it, please.

Last edited by Lisander on Fri Jan 27, 2017 4:20 pm, edited 4 times in total.

This will be Abanhfleft's fifth time participating in the World Lacrosse Championship. For reasons that can be simply summed up as "it's the best thing we've done in a while," the Democratic Republic is sending forth their women's national lacrosse team once again. The women's team, led by the "Fearsome Threesome" of Menan Alrisheb, Fatima Alsambis, and Cecilia Cuvimi, managed to win third place in their first ever tournament WLC XIX, beating the Serbian Empire to nab the bronze from under the veteran nation's noses. They went on to win back-to-back titles in WLC 22 and WLC 23 before a miserable performance in WLC 24 saw them eliminated in the group stage, but they have come back to win it all once again in WLC 25 to set history as the first nation to win three titles in four attempts. This women's team is different from the other women's lacrosse teams because they are trained in men's lacrosse rules, the reasons why will be explained in the history spoiler below.

The history of lacrosse in Abanhfleft is both long and short, in that it has been in the country for a long time, but a concise summary of said history can be written down in just ten to fifteen sentences or maybe more. Lacross was introduced in Abanhfleft by vacationing Canadian college students and expatriates who missed playing the game. The first truly Fleftic lacrosse players came from association football and field hockey backgrounds, and these players played in seasonal lacrosse clubs to augment their salaries during their respective sports' offseasons. The first national lacrosse league in Abanhfleft was established in 1929, and was composed of 7 teams coming from the Capital Islands. The Fleftic national lacrosse league system adopted its current promotion-and-relegation format in 1951, with the National League (now called the Lacrosse Premier League) at the top of the pyramid. The Fleftic Lacrosse Federation (Flefteikor' Fidourhat'she ob Lakros or FFoL) was established in 1930 to manage the leagues, and to see to the creation of a national team. The Abanhfleft men's national lacrosse team played its first game in 1931, where they lost 1-0 to a team of Montreal college players.

1963 saw the first attempts to introduce women's lacrosse into Abanhfleft. Women's lacrosse had vastly different rules from men's lacrosse, and while these programs saw some success in the mid-sixties, Fleftic women decided that the rules of women's lacrosse were "too soft," and simply adopted the rules of men's lacrosse. When the women's national lacrosse team played its first games in 1969, they surprised many other teams with their extremely aggressive style of play, the likes of which were more usually seen in men's lacrosse games. This led to many incidents of broken legs, broken arms, broken ribs, broken jaws, and so on and so forth. Eventually, the FFoL established another women's team, this one focusing on women's lacrosse rules. Teams playing Abanhfleft are well-advised to treat the women like men because the girls will certainly treat their opponents like Fleftic men.

They also won the last two World Lacrosse Championships, and they tried going for a third straight title, but a limp performance in the group stage of WLC 24 resulted in them going out on said stage. Now they're back for the silver edition of the World Lacrosse Championships hoping to come back stronger than ever. Can they do it, now that the Fearsome Threesome have all decided to retire from international lacrosse at the same time, or can they only somehow sink even deeper?

Assistant Coach - Tactics: Tim Blyther (46)Blyther is an Australian who played lacrosse in Abanhfleft's Lacrosse Premier League for almost fifteen years, eventually retiring in 2009 with five championships under his belt. Blyther is also a fan of association football, and was the mastermind of adapting some of that's sports tactics into lacrosse, and this combination of lacrosse and football helped lead the Releinthi Fighting Sticks to three consecutive championships in the Lacrosse Premier League. Being the inventor and innovator of FootCrosse (the combination of football and lacrosse tactics), Blyther was invited by the FFoL to be both national teams' tactics coach, but this will be the first time that FootCrosse will be seen on the world stage, and how Abanhfleft will perform in this tournament will determine the viability of FootCrosse on the international lacrosse scene.

Assistant Coach - Training: Chan Lua (60)A popular aerobics instructor back in the 1980s, Chan Lua was hired by the FFoL in 2012 for a yearly salary of 2 million new penenks, one of the largest yearly salaries ever in the federation. Lua's job will be to increase and enhance the players' fitness levels. Lua's hiring, which had been a controversial decision at the time, eventually paid off when both national teams' starting lineups lasted much longer on the field than their opponents. Observers keen to gauge this side will look to Lua's contributions to the effectiveness of the national side. In his spare time, when he is not the fitness coach of the Fleftic women's national lacrosse team, he is the fitness coach of the Fhulghamous Peninsula national football team.

Watch this space

Nickname: The AmazonsColors: All white with blue, orange, and green stripes on the waistline and yellow numbers in a red circle (home kit); all red with yellow letters and numbers (away kit)Style: Abanhfleft is an attacking team. The legacy of football and hockey players dabbling in lacrosse in its early days in Abanhfleft has resulted in a playing style that emphasizes getting the ball up front for chances to score. This, however, leaves the defense a bit thin, as at least two midfielders join the attackers in forays up to the goal, leaving behind only the defenders and the keeper. The midfield makes up for this by rushing back to their positions as soon as the opponents have acquired the ball.

To be added later

HOME STADIUM

The Imponte Garden in Kammala, Garufaloe Province, home of the Garufaloe Cobras of the FNLAF, will be playing host to the Fleftic national lacrosse team's home matches. It has an official capacity of 51,000 people, and while attendance regularly exceeds that figure thanks to a rabid fanbase for American football, and people prefer to stand up or sit on the stairs whenever capacity is filled, the organizers are not sure if this capacity will be filled for lacrosse matches, as it simply does not have the same pull as American football, association football, or even rugby union.

"The World Lacrosse Championships is now underway with the XXVI championship. 28 nations will compete for fhe prize of reigning supreme in first place. The West Phoenician Daredevils face some tough competition this year as many favorite and well established teams return to duke it out.

The first match witnessed the Daredevils up against the nation of Skloz. Goalkeeper Prince Jericho Bush did outstanding performance, becoming the player of the match in keeping Skloz from creeping ahead to take the first match.

The Daredevils won 19 to 15, which was a shaky start but expected when up against a team and nation one has not battled against before.

The United States of Devonta is there next rival they will come up against. A nation they have history with not only in Lacrosse but over a number of other sports also.

No changes to the roster have been made since the last championship. Head Coach Roberto Taylor feels confidence in his boys who were able to exceed his expectations in the last championship.

Sports pundits have it as a 50% chance for a win against the well established team. The Daredevils may now be known but their playbook has been changed to throw off any team who may be used to the Daredevils plays and tricks. But the Daredevils will pull out all punches to cripple the Number 7 seed nation.

The Phillippanoan news broadcasts and headlines reflected quite well the reactions to the first two results of the national team in the World Championships. By winning their first game in their first ever participation in an international tournament on the highest level, they had exceeded all expectations. Especially since their opponent was a ranked team (albeit only at 48). Due to being first of its kind, the event was broadcast on large screens in public areas and in most bars (even those that solely showed football or rugby), and so the entire nation watched their team reach a narrow victory (16-14) against Kebec.

The next day, most people tuned in to watch their next match, wondering if this was the start of a new chapter in their nation's athletic performance. Apparently not. They were beaten 10-6 by another newcomer to the Championships, Equatorial Zeldaen. Though a disappointment, this could hardly dampen the spirits of sports fans across Phillippanoa. With 4 matches still to go before the end of the group stage, there was still plenty of time to recover and make it to the round of sixteen. With one unplayed opponent in Group D (Natanians and Nosts, another ranked team), there was still much to be determined, since each team now had a win and a loss, with marginal differences in point differences.

Phillippanoa's head coach, Johan Greyssen, was very aware that they needed to win 3 of the next matches to be sure of moving to the next stage. With many variables in play, it would be possible to advance with less victories, but that was the goal.

—What can be said about the two first rounds of this team, my friends? You are getting as much attention as that money-grubbers mysoginist scum from millionaire hockey! — Gina Bizol, a postmodern feminist reporter, tried to get an interview with some player of the amateur squad, just before being prohibited from the team media management. Enough for her to start a massive trend on web.@ginabiz01 Even if they speak in name of equity, @ULL_lisander gave us a real show of what they are, a bunch of "sold out brats", traitors of the true feminist movement They should use the competition to promote, you know, equity.

The national Union immediately replied.

@ULL_lisander Lisander Lacrosse is not supposed to give interviews out of the intended area, and less supposed to give interviews without credentials. We support feminism and gender equality, but we must do it according the laws and rules of the competition.

The discussion follows on the web. Feminist activists are promoting a boycott to two final games of the pool.

The fact is. Good or bad, the performance of Lisanderian team is getting audience levels similar to ones in WCoH, considering the legal web streams. TV5 Sports 2 even decided to broadcast the playoffs if the team reach it.

Kotelnirovo, Nordskania2 miles east of Puloko, “Soviet Republic of Nordskania”Pridnestrovian-occupied territory

It had taken them thirty-one days since they first set foot within the city limits of Puloko, but the Pridnestrovians were finally ready to completely smash the last remnants of the Nordskanian People’s Army still within the city, or at least those People’s Army units which hadn’t yet been eliminated by or surrendered to the Pridnestrovian invaders. The decision to shift the invasion’s focus from the Red Strip to the rapidly collapsing Soviets (which had brought it upon themselves by trying to fight on three fronts at once) had proven to be a good one, even though the risk of getting rolled back by the northern anarchists was still a great possibility. The last remaining People’s Army defenders and their leaders, Pavel Andriychuk and Niketas Boyko, had holed up in Puloko’s City Hall in preparation for a last stand even as there were still other People’s Army holdouts in the extreme southern parts of the Nordskanian island, pockets of resistance still fighting back against the invaders. The capture of Puloko by the Pridnestrovians would finally give them a large population center from which they could establish a new state to stand up against all the other puppet states erected by the Anglatian imperialists on the island (notwithstanding the Vestanian state which they would also erect as a buffer between their occupied territory and the fascist so-called “State of Nordskania”) and the capture or killing of the two leaders of the so-called “Soviet Republic of Nordskania” would hopefully break the will of the remaining People’s Army defenders still tenuously holding on to the scraps of territory in their grasp.

But even as the 66th Guards Division, the 247th Guards Armored Division, and the 50th Motor Rifle Division were preparing to finish off the last defenders of Puloko, a few members of the invasion forces had gathered in the small hamlet of Kotelnirovo, which had been turned by the three divisions into their headquarters during their incursion into Puloko, to discuss a smaller and more secret invasion which nevertheless could prove to be much more important to Pridnestrovian interests than the invasion of Nordskania itself.

Sergeant Lyubov Ivanovna Sulinova was part of the 50th Motor Rifle Division as one of their snipers, or designated marksmen. She was sixteen years old by the time that the Pridnestrovians and the Szavodans finally settled for a negotiated peace in 2008 and therefore too young to have fought in the Great Patriotic War alongside her comrades, but being part of the 50th Motor Rifles had meant that she had experienced combat before the invasion of Nordskania, when the division had deployed over 500 advisers to the Republika Kroatien during their abortive rebellion against the Commonwealth of Armeia. It was during the Kroatien campaign that Lyubov made her name among the division as a sharpshooter, and this was what had earned her an invitation to the exclusive Sniper School after she had come back from the Republika Kroatien after the Pridnestrovians’ involvement had been exposed by Fleftic media. To be invited to the Sniper School was both an honor and a privilege, and it also meant joining an exclusive club made up of the best of the best of Pridnestrovia’s sharpshooters like Boris Birsakov, Genrikh Antonov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Roman Zhemnev, Gavrina Kumilyova, Olga Grisenko, and the like. Members of the Sniper School had gone on to represent Pridnestrovia in shooting competitions and had taken home their fair share of medals and awards.

But for the meeting which Lyubov Sulinova was due to attend right now, things like being a sniper and a soldier didn’t matter one jot. For aside from the Sniper School, Lyubov Sulinova was also a member of an even more reclusive and secretive organization within the Pridnestrovian Armed Forces, an organization tasked with the infiltration of Pridnestrovia’s enemies. The organization’s members had been drawn from within the Armed Forces upon its inception due to the extremely sensitive nature of their operations, although in recent years, civilians had been recruited into the organization to aid in the main aim of infiltrating the enemy. Only one thing really united the members of this secret organization, and it all had to do with the secrets within their heads.

Sulinova walked up to one of the many huts in the village which had been occupied by the divisions’ staff and turned into a functional base and barracks and halted before the guard standing beside the door. “Sergeant Sulinova of the 50th Motor Rifles, here to see Colonel Yuganov on his orders,” she said in response to the guard’s unspoken challenge. The guard nodded his head and allowed Sulinova to proceed into the house.

Two men were already inside the hut when Sulinova got in and deposited her weapons at a small table to the side of the door. One of the men was standing while the other was seated. The man standing wore the woodland camouflage-pattern combat uniform of the Pridnestrovian Army, complete with the green-and-white telnyashka undershirt, and he had just finished pouring vodka into the coffee mug in the hands of the seated man, who was wearing the olive-green jumpsuit of the Pridnestrovian Air Force and the prerequisite black-and-white telnik (telnik being shorthand for telnyashka which was honestly a mouthful to speak).

The Army man was Colonel Kirill Lvovich Yuganov of the 50th Motor Rifle Division, a fifty-year-old veteran of both the Great Patriotic War and Operation KNIFE EDGE with a high and receding hairline. He held the highest rank between the members of the secret project within the Pridnestrovian Armed Forces, but he was not the overall commander of the project. That honor was reserved for someone else who was not yet with them at the moment. “Ah, Lyuba!” he said as he saw Sulinova come in. “I’m glad you received the summons that I sent down to your regiment.”

“Yes, I did, Comrade Colonel,” Sulinova replied as she walked up to the colonel. “Who’s the new arrival?” she asked, pointing at the aviator.

“Sergeant of Aviation Georgiy Arkhipovich Islenin, Comrade Sergeant,” the aviator said, standing up and shaking Sulinova’s hand. Islenin had the sort of face which the Westerners would call “punchable,” as Sulinova couldn’t really tell whether Islenin was truly smiling at her or hiding a sneer behind that affable smile. Nevertheless, Sulinova somehow felt at ease with Islenin because there was only reason why he had been included into the project: he also carried a few sensitive secrets in his head.

And that immediately established the hierarchy between them. Sulinova, as “Eight-One-Two,” was lower down the project group’s chain of command than Islenin, “Five-Nine-Four.” But despite his relatively low designation, Sulinova knew that Islenin was not the project commander. They were still waiting for that one.

“Speaking of which, where is Five-Seven-Three?” Islenin asked Yuganov. And just like that, the dynamic within their little group had changed. Yuganov, despite being the colonel, now seemed to be subordinate to Sergeant Islenin.

“Five-Seven-Three said that she would be picking up Six-Four-Zero on the way,” Yuganov replied. “Ah, I think here they come now,” he said as the door opened to admit two women. One wore the dark blue jumpsuit of the Navy and had captain first rank epaulettes on her shoulders, and the other wore the standard woodland camouflage uniform of the Army, but her ballistic vest was marked with GRU in large black letters and her shoulder epaulettes identified her rank as major.

Major Klaudia Fridrikhovna Glaser of the Military Intelligence Directorate was a slim yet stocky 32-year-old who had been recruited into the GRU fresh after finishing basic training due to her relatively high IQ (140 as of the last test she had taken). It was also her high IQ rating which had made her the leader of “The Project,” or rather she had been given the responsibility of carrying the true leader of “The Project” in her head. Meanwhile, Captain First Rank Tanya Nikitovna Kalinina of the Pridnestrovian Navy was the first Pridnestrovian to join “The Project” by virtue of becoming an accidental host to a member of “The Project” back during a family trip to Abanhfleft. It was Kalinina’s becoming part of “The Project” which had convinced the Fleftic members to expand their operations into Pridnestrovia with the cooperation of the Fleftic and Pridnestrovian governments and armed forces. It was part of the pseudo-alliance which had been struck up between Abanhfleft and Pridnestrovia.

Major Glaser took off her helmet to reveal locks of long brown hair, and then she scanned the room and the others with her big brown eyes. “All right, it looks like the gang’s all here,” she said, scrutinizing every other member of “The Project” in the room. “Ah, I see that you’ve finally found time in your busy schedule to finally show up, Five-Nine-Four,” she said, looking at Islenin.

“In my defense, I do have a plausible and believable excuse,” Islenin said. “I’ve been busy launching cruise missiles at Puloko, Ryakova, the Red Strip, and the north with the rest of the Air Force.”

“Hmm, but I guess that you knew that we would know that, da?” Glaser said, folding her arms over her chest. “Well, at least you’re here with the rest of us, and that’s what matters. Now, let’s get on with why we’re all here, and why I am here. Over the past few days, Five-One-Four and Eight-One-Two-Six over in Abanhfleft have expressed concerns about the number of the Project members which have been deployed to an active combat zone like Nordskania is at the moment. They feel that having so many of us fighting in frontline units could jeopardize the security and integrity of The Project due to the very real risk of at least one of us getting killed.”

“Look, Five-Seven-Three, we’ve already discussed this, both among ourselves and with our members over in Abanhfleft,” Yuganov said in reply to Glaser’s words. “We are all soldiers, warriors, and fighters in here. We all understood the risks of soldiers, sailors, and aviators hosting members of the Project, and all of us in here have agreed to willingly shoulder the risks which come with being in the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. Eight-One-Two could get hit by an enemy soldier. Six-Four-Zero’s submarine could be sunk. Five-Nine-Four’s bomber could get shot down. I could get hit by an artillery or rocket strike. Even you, Five-Seven-Three, could find yourself on the wrong end of a fifth columnist operation.”

“Well, I’m glad that you feel the same way as I do with regards to all of us,” Glaser replied. “I’ve told Five-One-Four about this already, but I have to make sure all the same. Also, most of us being in the thick of the fighting makes it difficult for all of us to get together for times like these. Luckily for all of us, though, there’s been a lull in the fighting which gives us all the opportunity to get together, which is a good thing, because aside from what I’ve already told you all about Five-One-Four and Eight-One-Two-Six’s concerns about us, they have something else to ask of us.”

“And what would that be?” Islenin asked.

“Five-One-Four and Eight-One-Two-Six aren’t as convinced as we are that using our own members to infiltrate the likes of Nordskania and Anglatia for Pridnestrovia’s purposes and not just the Project’s is a good thing,” Kalinina replied from the table where they had laid down their weapons, speaking up for the first time. “I have to say that I understand where they’re coming from, though. Letting our fellow members assist the KGB and the GRU in gathering intelligence from within the enemy’s ranks is all well and good, but lately we have strayed from the line of taking as hosts only those who are willing to host us. We have placed some of our members inside hosts who are unaware that they are being used to spy upon their own countries. Some of them are even now fighting against us, having joined or been conscripted into our enemies’ armies by virtue of their hosts. I daresay that it’s our comrades who are now within our enemies’ armies’ ranks which Five-One-Four and Eight-One-Two-Six are really worried about.”

“And I, speaking in defense of the GRU and the KGB, say that using our own members alongside the Committee and the Directorate’s human assets is a much more worthwhile venture than just relying on the loyalty or lack thereof of our spies within Nordskania and Anglatia,” Glaser said in response. “Are we not all loyal to Pridnestrovia? What better way to ensure that our spies are actually working for the cause by having some of us watching over their shoulders, so to speak?”

“Five-One-Four did say that you were the ruthless type, Five-Seven-Three,” Kalinina said.

“And I say to Five-One-Four that she’s grown soft living alongside the Fleftics,” Glaser retorted even as she kept her tone light and easy. “Anyway, now let me get to the third reason why I’m here. We have at least three fellows who have infiltrated this part of Nordskania, and their recent transmissions have led me to believe that all three of them have now been conscripted into the Nordskanian People’s Army in preparation for the final defense of their capital, which is expected to fall within the next few days. I’ve already given them orders to keep themselves away from the fighting as much as possible, but if they have to fight to maintain their cover then I will have to leave it to you to tell our comrades not to eliminate them. Five-Nine-Four, Six-Four-Zero, since I’m sure that you won’t be playing a part in the fighting on the ground, you need not concern yourselves about them, but Nine-One-Five and Eight-One-Two will have to notify your comrades about this particular development.”

“I’ll let my subordinates know about it immediately,” Yuganov said. “And I’m sure that Eight-One-Two will do the job of spreading it among the ranks. The soldiers operate on gossip as much as they do on courage and patriotism.”

“Good,” Glaser said. “If any of you get your hands on any of our guys inside then make sure that they find their way to me ASAP.”

“You’re staying here?” Sulinova asked, not bothering to hide her surprise and incredulity. “I thought you were going to be staying in the Motherland for the GRU, rooting out the Anglatians’ own attempts at infiltrating us?”

“The others in the Directorate can take care of it without my help for the moment,” Glaser replied matter-of-factly. “Two-Five-Five-Four has already told us the important and pertinent details of this Operation Azure Mamba of Anglatia’s, and we’ve already taken the necessary steps to counter it. In fact, we might even be able to turn things on its head and use Azure Mamba to our own advantage.”

“I can only hope for our sakes and the sake of Pridnestrovia that you are right about that, Five-Seven-Three,” Yuganov said.

“Oh, Nine-One-Five, since when have you known my plans to go awry?”

“I can name a couple dozen times your plans have gone awry.”

“All right, it’s time to wrap this up,” Glaser announced. “I’m sure that we’re all being expected at our respective bases and places in preparation for the next few hours which will surely decide the fate of Puloko. It’s up to all of us to help Pridnestrovia achieve its objectives. Also, if any of you stumble upon one of our friends from the other side, make sure that they find their way to me. I know that we will all have a lot to talk about.”

After a won over Equatorial Zeldaen,Natanians and Nosts lost to Kebec.The game was dominated by Kebec,but the final two minutes were dominated by us,when we scored eight of our ten goals.The third,fourth and fifth goals were score by Bruno Caeso North,the Gabriel Martin Moura scored the sixth,Ion Victor César scored our great seventh goal and Bruno Caeso North scored the last goal.